Four Pendleton Marines plead not guilty in slaying of Marine and wife

MURRIETA 
Four Camp Pendleton Marines accused of killing a fellow Marine and his wife entered not-guilty pleas Thursday in a case that has attracted national attention as much for its brutality as for its military connection.

Pvt. Kevin D. Cox and Lance Cpls. Emrys J. John, Tyrone L. Miller and Kesaun K. Sykes were arraigned in Riverside Superior Court in Murrieta. Bail was denied for all of them, and the next hearing is set for Dec. 15.

Miller's attorney, Jeff Zimel, said he expected prosecutors to seek the death penalty. “This is just a tough case,” he added.

The defendants are accused of forcing their way into the house of Sgt. Jan Pietrzak and his wife, Quiana Jenkins-Pietrzak, during the early morning of Oct. 15 in the southwestern Riverside County city of Winchester.

They have admitted to ransacking the house, stealing items, torturing the Pietrzaks, sexually assaulting Jenkins-Pietrzak and then shooting the couple execution-style, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

They also set fire to the house in a bid to destroy evidence, authorities said in court documents.

Deputies found the Pietrzaks' bodies later that day, after receiving a phone call from Marine officials who became concerned about the sergeant not showing up for work.

An investigation conducted by the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the military led to the arrests of John, 18, of Baltimore, Md.; Miller, 20, of Onslow, N.C.; Cox, 20, of Shelby, Tenn.; and Sykes, 21, of San Diego. Two of the defendants had served under Jan Pietrzak.

None of the Pietrzaks' family members or friends attended Thursday's arraignment. Parents of the interracial couple -- he was white, she was black -- have said they believe their children's killers had a racial motive. Authorities have only said the defendants, all African-Americans, staged a robbery.

At least two of the defendants had loved ones in court Thursday.

John's mother and other family members flew in from Baltimore. Miller's mother, aunt, wife and two young daughters were present. Zimel said Miller's wife and children will soon have to move from their on-base housing because Miller has decided to leave the military through the voluntary-separation process.

Earlier this week, the Marine Corps said two of the defendants had enlisted with waivers. Because of privacy issues, it declined to name them.

“One (had) a few instances of marijuana use prior to entering the Corps, and the other had a felony waiver for theft of a laptop from school at age 16,” Marine officials said in an e-mail. “None of the Marines being investigated in the murder of Sgt. Pietrzak and his wife joined the Marine Corps with a waiver for violent criminal activity.”

The Pietrzaks lived less than 3 miles away from where the defendants were arraigned. They had moved into a two-story, five-bedroom home at 31319 Bermuda St. that they bought as a foreclosed property in May.

On Wednesday, no one answered the door bell, which is shaped as a cross. Shutters covered all the windows except for one through which people could see cherry-wood flooring and multi-tone brown walls on the first floor.